Is Cradling the Answer?

Abstract

NEW variations in the method of cradling suggested currently by Kozlowski [i] and employed in recent years by the Istituto Centrale del Restauro [2] are significant refinements of an ancient mechanical principle. In these new applications of the principle of free mechanical control, certain hindrances from cumbersome components and structural faults have been eliminated. These defects Eastlake must have had in mind a hundred odd years ago when he warned that: 'Panels on which fine pictures have been executed are often injured by the misapplication of parquetting. It would, therefore, appear that the method of safely strengthening wood by ledges, however familiar to cabinet makers, is not so generally understood as could be wished by those who undertake operations of far greater importance than the construction of the most costly furniture' [3f]. There is no reason to suspect that Eastlake questioned the underlying principle. Yet it is the principle which is now often being disputed. Doubts are especially prevalent in the United States, and there are reasons why these doubts should arise in this country. The climatic extremes in the parts of our country where the greatest number of panel paintings are housed are broader than in most parts of Europe. The following table of mean temperatures (in centigrade degrees) in the coldest and warmest months of the year in a few American and European cities bears this out [4]: Coldest Warmest Mean month month range Washington 1 5 25 235 Boston 22-3 24-2 Chicago 4 22.8 26-8 Minneapolis 10 23 33 Rome 7'5 245 17 Vienna 0 18-8 18-8 Berlin o*2 19 18-8 Helsinki 6-3 16-6 22-9